The holiday spirit, like the tropical warmth, never really seems to leave Padre Island and the Rio Grande Valley. All year long there is something going on that creates crowds, costumes, parades and a spirit of excitement and fun. “Come, be gay with us,” the slogan of Brownsville’s Charro Days sums up the fun calendar.

A colorful pageant called BUCCANEER DAYS is held annually in the spring in Corpus Christi. Visitors and natives are requested to dress in pirate costumes. Spectacular events include a parade of floats, water pageant, bathing beauty review, fashion shows, street dances, a square dance festival, and a huge show at Buccaneer Stadium with a treasure chest of prizes.

In Brownsville, CHARRO DAYS, the four day pre-Lenten festival in the Mexican tradition, features parades, street dances and colorful displays of merchandise. This whirl of color in motion combines the cultural elements of both Mexico and Texas. Here the population of Brownsville and Matamoros, meet attired in costumes of Latin America. Thousands of charmingly attired children steal the show in the children’s parade.

MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY, the across-the-border celebration on September sixteenth, includes serenades in the plaza, street dances, parties and elaborate fireworks, parades, imaginative decorations, games, colored lanterns, and great glowing crepe paper globes filled with smoke that are released to float over the city. At the Charro rodeo the cowboys demonstrate their fine horsemanship and courage in the competitions. Bullfights are staged on special holidays. Tourists from all parts of the nation come to watch the beautiful girls and handsome boys participate in the courtship promenade known as the serenata, the young ladies walking clockwise and the young men counterclockwise.

January brings the CITRUS FIESTA to Mission, Texas, which offers a highly unusual fashion show, golf tournament, coronation parade and a Queen’s ball. The models wear costumes fashioned from products of the Valley, such as bougainvillaea blossoms and orange peels. The effect is surprisingly beautiful.

The TURISTA FIESTA in Harlingen features high school bands parading from both sides of the border, fashion shows, miniature golf and shuffleboard tournaments, fishing competition, beauty contests, crowning of a queen and king, and barbecue for everybody. Also in Harlingen is the nationally famous “LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY” invitational golf tournament, held on the Municipal Golf Course every February. It offers a full week of entertainment, with trips to Padre Island and Mexico. Of course, players are limited to those over forty. In June, Harlingen holds the COTTON FESTIVAL when the nation’s first bale is harvested usually in the Mission area.

At Mercedes, the RIO GRANDE VALLEY LIVESTOCK SHOW AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO every March offers stars from the entertainment world, big names from the rodeo circuit, marching bands, and an opportunity to view prize cattle and livestock of all kinds. The Future Farmers of America play a big role in this show.

At Port Isabel, the BLESSING OF THE SHRIMP FLEET ceremony is held each summer during the SHRIMP FIESTA, when the participants in the multi-million dollar industry pause to pay tribute to the men who earn their livelihood from the sea. After the serious theme of the blessing of the fleet, a water parade of shrimp trawlers in holiday attire initiates the gaiety of the fiesta. This blessing dates back to earliest Christian times, and has long been an important rite to the shrimpers. At this time the TEXAS INTERNATIONAL FISHING TOURNAMENT offers three full days of competitive fishing.

The WESLACO BIRTHDAY PARTY, held in early September, marks the anniversary of the city’s founding. A feature is Tourist Day, with special attractions planned to appeal to winter tourists.

In Pharr, the VALLEY VEGETABLE SHOW in December draws travelers from all over the country to see the unbelievably oversized, early ripening displays of colorful vegetables.

Many smaller festivals keep things lively during the year. At Edinburg BRONCO DAYS are held in November and PAN AMERICAN DAYS in the spring. An ONION FESTIVAL is held in Raymondville. At McAllen a FOURTH OF JULY celebration always closes with a gala bullfight in Reynosa, Mexico. At Los Fresnos an annual fiesta includes a full scale SOCIETY HORSE SHOW held in midsummer, which draws entries and visitors from all over the United States.